This Costs How Much?
by gawilliams
Summary: Another in the Deep Regret storyline.  This one is early in the marriage where the issue of money and buying a house comes into the equation.
1. Chapter 1

_This is another one in the Deep Regret storyline. There have been some stories and chapters done relating to the wide disparity between Booth and Bones in terms of money and how that could play out when they get together (one particularly good one is the later chapters of Nyre The Black Rose's story _Happy New Year At The Hay Adams_), but I decided to write this two chapter piece of my own in order to close up a gap since I mentioned that they lived in what amounts to at least a smaller sized mansion with a large amount of grounds around the estate. I hope you enjoy this one. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Seeley Booth was having a mild panic attack. His wife of five months, Bones, was really getting into the whole idea of them getting a home of their own, but every time she brought him to see a home that the real estate agent had picked out to show them, the damn thing turned out to be a freaking mansion! Not that he had anything against mansions, or even larger homes, but he was trying very hard to keep this relationship and marriage as close to a 50/50 partnership as possible, and there was no way he could afford anywhere near what his 50% of such a mortgage payment would be on any of these places! It looked like he was going to have to sit Bones down and have a little talk about the finances. It was something he had not done thus far, as she was not one to flash her wealth around by any means, but it looked like if he was going to keep this whole thing fair, he would have to have the dreaded **TALK**.

He arrived at their apartment, what was hers before they moved in together a month after they had began to have a relationship, and found her in the living room working on her laptop. He always enjoyed seeing her working on her novels, whether in her home or work offices, or in bed, or in the living room with the laptop propped up on her crossed legs. Her look of intense concentration was cute, and he would never get enough of it, hence he was always spending time whenever she was working just being with her. Usually that meant reading a, ahem, _**graphic novel**_, or playing a hand held game, but at least he was there watching.

"Hi!" Bones looked up at her husband and smiled widely. She'd been home for a couple of hours and had on some sweat pants and a light, loose t-shirt with the FBI logo on it.

"Hey, Bones," Booth smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss. "Sorry I'm late, but Cullen wanted to talk to me about a few things."

"Problems?" she asked quickly. Their relationship and subsequent marriage had not been looked on with favor at the FBI, but she and the rest of the Squint Squad (she still could not believe that she now thought of them as that!) had bluntly told Cullen and the Bureau that if the partnership was severed for anything less than a promotion for Booth, then they would no longer do _**any**_ work with the Bureau, or any other government agency, for that matter. The FBI had backed off instantly and had not said a word since then.

"I'm up for a promotion," he replied taking a seat, having gotten a beer from the fridge, and had refilled her glass of wine. They had had dinner at the diner before he'd had to go back to the Bureau for his meeting.

Bones tensed, but kept calm. She wanted Booth to get all the accolades she felt her deserved, including some very well deserved promotions, but she also loved their professional partnership. It was a quandary, but the fact that they were together, and married, was the better part of any deal, so she settled for being happy for him, assuming this was a good promotion and he accepted it.

"What position are they offering?" she asked. There had been some recent changes made in the hierarchy of the Bureau, and a lot of the upper positions were new. Cullen had been named the Deputy Director of the entire Bureau several weeks before, and had been making a lot of changes under him.

"Cullen wants me to be his deputy, and also to be the head of the DC Field Office," Booth replied as he took another swig of his beer.

"That's a large promotion from where you are currently," Bones observed. Inside she was very happy for him as he was very good at what he did, and his leadership skills were exceptional in her opinion. "But that means our partnership is ended," she continued, this time a bit more subdued.

"That's what it boils down to," he nodded. He took her right hand in his left, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. Part of his anxiety this evening had been concern about how she would react to this promotion.

"You accepted," she stated, though she did not sound unhappy.

"Not yet, but there's no real way to do so without sounding completely selfish," Booth told her. "I asked Sam Cullen to give me a couple of days to let him know for sure."

"What do you want to do?" Bones asked, setting her laptop aside after she had shut it down.

"Well, the job is one I know I can do, and it's a damn good opportunity," he replied. "It's also more money." Thankfully she had given him the perfect opportunity to bring in the subject of money.

Bones frowned. "Are you worried about money?" she asked, trying to keep her confusion from showing.

"Yeah," he said, knowing that he sounded ridiculous considering his wife's wealth.

"I thought you had gotten beyond that," she said softly. It was something that she had worried about, frankly, but when he never brought the subject up, she had assumed that they had dealt with it sufficiently when he had "taught" her to fix a leaky pipe almost three years before.

"I thought I had, too, Bones, but these houses that we're seeing put it right back in my head again," he admitted. "I want this marriage to be a close to 50/50 as it can be. These homes, though, would make it impossible for me to live up to that."

Bones was happy that at least he was being honest, and she was touched that he wanted them to be equals, though she knew that there was a touch of the traditional Alpha Male sensibilities in there to some extent.

"Do you know what I'm worth, Booth?" she asked him.

Booth didn't know what she was driving at. He'd never asked her about how much wealth she had, nor had he asked to even be included in her financial arena. All he knew was was that she was very wealthy with the book deals and the movie rights and royalties that she had coming in. She'd been smart and contracted all the rights to her novels once the _initial_ print run was completed for each of them. It had been very lucrative for her, and the selling of the movie rights had been shrewdly done, guaranteeing her a share of the movie revenues. The two movies thus far had been wildly successful.

"No," he told her. He watched as she got up and went to her home office, coming back with a file folder which she opened up when she sat down beside him.

"This is my current financial accounting from my accountant," she explained. "The whole file is a detailed itemization of my assets, but this sheet is the principal summary. This bottom figure," she said pointing to a figure at the bottom right hand corner, "is my current net worth, including all liquid and non-liquid assets."

Booth looked at the figure and almost had a stroke. He mentally calculated an average per book, eight books now (he counted the two movies to be a part of the books), and was stunned. She was now averaging $23 million per book, net. Of course some of this was from the return on sound investments, ongoing royalties, and advances on her next three book contract, but the bottom line was she had a net worth of $184 million. He glanced through the summary and saw that her liquid assets totaled $54 million in various bank accounts, money market accounts, and other forms of readily convertible asset forms. That left $130 million in property and other non-liquid assets that she controlled, which he knew about as she had purchased high end condominium complexes in several East Coast cities, a couple of vacation homes, as well as her own apartment. She also, with that $130 million, had a number of charitable trusts set up, as well as ten very specific scholarship funds that she had direct control of at the Jeffersonian as well as several very high quality institutions. There were a couple of trusts that were not labeled, too. She had also begun to do anonymous, but under her control, philanthropy work on behalf of small communities suffering hardship in bad economic times by enhancing travel opportunities for tourists through road and bridge repair, as well as small business block grants of modest amounts, generally 20-30 thousand dollars. Very few authors, even those considered very successful, had ever been as financially successful as she had been, but like with everything else, she had succeeded beyond anyones reasonable expectations.

Bones took in his shocked expression. She had not really thought of letting him know until they had to make new arrangements for tax purposes when it came time to file jointly for the first time as he hadn't mentioned anything about the money issue, but now she wished that she had. He might not look angry, but he did look concerned.

"Booth," she said gently. "I'm not about to say that I think you should simply let me do all the financial side of things in our marriage. I love that you want to contribute on that side as much as possible. It shows me that you want me for who I am and not what I can buy, or do for, you. But at the same time, I think that you have problems with my wealth that you haven't spoken of in the past."

He looked at her and saw that she was really looking beneath the surface. Her showing him the accounting was her way of making sure that he knew that she was considering his deeper concerns, even if she wasn't aware of the main one in his own mind.

"There is one," he told her, reluctantly.

"What is it?" she asked. "I won't judge you, Booth. You know that, even if I might think you are misguided at times."

He inwardly chuckled at her use of the word misguided. It was her sophisticated, Squinty way, of saying he was wrong. "Bones, that kind of money scares me," he admitted.

"Why would it scare you?" she asked, not really thinking of the one thing that may be worrisome for him.

"I'm a gambling addict, Bones," he told her. It was something she was well aware of, but he knew that she didn't look at him as if he was.

"Ex-gambling addict," she corrected.

Booth chuckled out loud. "No, Bones," he told her. "Addiction is addiction, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or even gambling. Once you're an addict, your an addict for life. Why do you think I still go to meetings once a month?"

"You're worried that if you don't pay an equal share, it'll be too easy for you to fall back into gambling, and use your access to our money to finance it," she caught on. "That's why you've been reluctant about the houses we've been looking at," she figured it out.

"Uh, huh," he told her, closing the file and handing it back. This was so embarrassing. He hated showing a weakness about anything, but his gambling was something that he was so personally ashamed of that it had colored his views about money and wealth more than he had even realized over the years. It wasn't that he had bad feelings towards people who had money, as most of them had worked hard to get where they were, like Bones. It was more the temptation and attitudes that such money often engendered, though he was honest enough to admit that there were plenty of wealthy people like Bones and Hodgins that didn't let it go to their heads.

"Then we have a problem," she told him bluntly.

"I know," he replied.

"No, I don't think you do," she informed him. "In the very near future we will have to file our tax forms jointly, and as a result of that, some changes will need to be made with respect to the financial resources I brought into this relationship. I did not, nor will I ever, agree to anything less than you having equal access to that and any future monies I have. Nor will I stand for you making yourself out to be some weak individual who can't be trusted. We will be going and seeing another house tomorrow, Booth. I already have seen it and really want you to consider it."

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" he asked, a sheepish look on his face. He was still very uncomfortable with her trust in him regarding so much money, but he would at least look at the house. If they argued about it, then so be it, but at least she now knew what was bothering him.

"No," she told him bluntly. She sighed. "Look," she said calmly. "If you're that worried about your addiction, we can put some benign controls and limits on your access to the money at any one time, but I honestly don't think it's necessary. As for the house, I want to be able to get a home that gives you some of the things that would make life for you very enjoyable away from work. Parker's getting older and a large yard to play in would be wonderful for you guys, as well as a pool. I know you enjoy working on classic cars, so an outfitted garage for that kind of thing is also a possibility. You've given me more than I think you realize, Booth, and with this I have a chance to give something tangible back to you. It's important to me."

"All right," Booth agreed, knowing he would in the end anyway. "No promises on agreeing to the place, but I will give at fair chance."

"Good," Bones said with a smile. She handed him one of his favorite comic books. "Now here's a comic book and you have your beer. Sit there and relax while I get more work done on my novel." She wouldn't admit it to him, but she enjoyed having him nearby when she worked on anything. As for having him near when she was working on one of her novels, she had an ulterior motive as she used him as a guinea pig for the sex scenes. It was easy enough to feign writer's block on those scenes and drag him to the bedroom for some _**inspiration**_.

"_**GRAPHIC NOVEL**_," he growled with an affectionate smile, defending his second favorite reading material, his favorite being her novels, of course.

"Read," she ordered with a chuckle. She was looking forward to the next day.

_A/N: Well, there's the setup for the home buying scene. I hope you enjoyed part one, and I will be posting the second chapter tomorrow afternoon. The next chapters for _Venting Frustration_ and An _End To Celibacy_ will be posted during the rest of this week. Thank you for the continuing interest in the Deep Regret storyline. Gregg._


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the first chapter to this one. Here is the last chapter. Here Booth sees the house that Bones likes. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, the characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Booth had arranged to get the day off and he was driving Bones to the house she had said they were going to be looking at. He was following her directions and the more he saw, the more anxious he was getting. The homes they were passing were very high class luxury homes. They had talked about his concerns, especially after the totally mind blowing revelation about her net worth, and while he was feeling a bit better due to her personal confidence in him, he wasn't so sure about it personally. He'd promised her he would have an open mind, though, and he was not about to go back on that.

"Turn right at the next gate," Bones told him. "It should be open."

Booth cringed at the word "gate" as that told him that this was going to be a pretty big home. He pulled into the long driveway after passing by the gate and he gaped as they approached the home. It was a freaking mansion! It looked to have two stories, and the house itself was long and wide as he could see the more three dimensional aspects from the angle of the drive towards it. The grounds were sprawling and he could see what appeared to be a par three golf fairway. Coming to the front of the mansion, he took a look at the separate garage and saw that it was a four car garage.

"What the Hell is this place, Bones?" he asked when his voice returned.

Bones looked at Booth to gauge his mood. He seemed more shocked than anything, so she was hopeful. "I know it's large, but it has some amenities that I thought would be very good for us," she told him.

"But a mansion?" he asked as he got out of the SUV.

"Give it a chance, Booth," she said as she joined him. "I have the key from the Agent so we're able to look by ourselves since I already saw it."

When they entered the home Booth was surprised at the homey feel to it. He was expecting a large, open foyer that spoke of massive space and opulence, but instead it was a small, warm area that branched of in different directions. He looked through a large set of French doors and saw a good sized room that would make for a very nice family room. Maybe Bones was right. He nodded to her to give him the tour.

There was a lot to the house. It had six bedrooms, four of which had their own en suite bathrooms. In addition to that, there were several rooms that could be utilized for almost any purpose, as well as a large basement room that was fully ready to become a kick ass game room/sports den. He had to admit that this was a home he could see himself in, if it weren't for the nagging concern about cost.

Bones made sure to show off all the best features of the house, or mansion was likely the more accurate term, and could see that he liked what he saw. The various rooms that could be converted into multipurpose rooms, and the very large study that she would claim for herself, made for a home that could be utilized very practically. Outside she showed him the large pool and spa.

"Parker would be happy," Booth allowed, not admitting that he would enjoy it just as much as his pool loving son.

They went around the large grounds and he found that the golf fairway was actually the opening hole of a three hole course containing par 3, par 4, and par 5 holes, each of which could be adjusted and shifted to make increasingly challenging practice and putting greens. As he enjoyed golf, this would give him a perfect chance to enjoy practicing his game. He was shown the tennis court and basketball court, too. As a sports nut, and someone who enjoyed his athletics, this was paradise. When they got back to the pool, they sat down at the table there and talked.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"It's incredible, Bones," he told her honestly. "What's not to like?"

"I was hoping you'd like it," she admitted.

"How much is it, Bones?" he asked, getting right to the main point.

Bones took a deep breath. This was where she knew things would get difficult. "10.4 million, firm," she replied, not taking her eyes off is his face.

Booth could feel the stroke coming on in a big way. As it was he knew his jaw had to be right on the floor, and his eyes were popping out. He was thinking like 1 or 2 million, which was bad enough, but 10.4?

"You're upset," Bones observed.

"No," he sighed. "Let me ask you something. Last night when we talked, did you understand what I was trying to tell you about what scares me?"

"I think so, but to be honest, I'm not sure," she replied, trying to be honest.

"Actually I'm not surprised, given your views on psychology," he managed to chuckle. He saw her frown, so he got to the point. "Like most addictions, gambling is an escape, Bones. I know you're aware of that, but it needs to be said. You've seen a lot of the same kinds of things I have, to one degree or another. You had science to give you a focus for the emotional trauma. For a time I had Rebecca, but that wasn't enough. Even having a son wasn't enough because of the situation I was in regarding Parker. I slipped into gambling because of the thrill of it, the risks involved."

"But you got over that, and haven't gambled in years," she pointed out.

"Except for once," he said with a small downturn of his eyes.

Bones shivered as she remembered that night in front of the Hoover Building and how much she had hurt him. She'd paid dearly for that mistake, and Booth even more so, on the emotional level.

"I remember," she said quietly.

"When I met you, I got some focus back in my life, and especially when we became partners, and then friends," he told her. "I went to meetings regularly, and eventually I was able to manage with one meeting a month, which I still go to. But there are times that the urge, and the pull of the risk is almost too much."

"What do you do then?" she asked. She'd never really discussed his gambling much, but that was more because she allowed him to dictate how much of his personal life he revealed when it came to such issues, just like he had granted her the same courtesy from the very beginning.

"Go to the firing range, take a run, go to the hockey rink and skate for a few hours," he shrugged. "But two things really help, outside of meetings, Bones."

"What?" she pressed.

"First is you," he told her, and had to smile at her slight blush. At times Bones reacted completely normally in such situations, and it was very heartwarming to see. It showed she trusted him a great deal. "Enjoying takeout, talking about a case, or just talking with you helps a lot, Bones. When we do, I know that there is someone who is there for me when I really need some direction and purpose in life."

Bones felt the same way, but didn't know if now was the right time to say so. She decided to keep the discussion focused on him for now. "And the second thing?" she asked.

"Do you know what the Prayer of Serenity is?" he asked.

"I've heard of it, but not being religious, I've never really taken the time to look into it," she admitted, hoping he didn't get offended by her lack of religious faith. He normally didn't, but some subjects were still sensitive with Booth. She didn't know if this was one of them.

"The words aren't important right now, but for me it's a form of meditation, kind of like the feeling you get when you do your Yoga, or when you go through the Katas when you're doing your martial arts routines," he tried to explain. "I already have the Prayer of Serenity as a part of my nightly prayers, but sometimes I will find myself struggling and take a moment to say the prayer during the day. Believe me, Bones, it makes a big difference."

"Does your religious faith help you?" she asked, which seemed like a valid question given his mention of the Prayer of Serenity.

"It does," he told her. "When I get those urges in a strong way, I add them into what I confess when I go to confession."

She smothered the grin that threatened when he mentioned confession. When they became a couple, and began a physical relationship he'd mentioned that it would be great to finally be able to go to confession and be called a pervert for something he'd actually done as opposed to fantasized about, which in his view constituted covetousness. She'd spent a great deal of time giving him grief about his "wicked" mind and asking him just what those "impure" thoughts really were. So far he'd been pretty tight lipped about it.

"Booth, do you love me" she asked, now feeling comfortable in how to approach this. Her mind, working as rapidly as it normally did, had seen the opening she needed.

Booth looked at her like she was nuts. "Of course I do," he told her with genuine affection. "How could you even ask that?"

"Bear with me, Booth," she admonished. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course," he told her, with no hesitation or wavering in his voice.

"And your religious faith is the foundation for your mental and emotional stability?" she pressed.

"Yes," he said, a little slower that time, though there was no denying the truth of it.

"So you believe in the genuine, honest giving and receiving of Christian love and devotion?" she asked.

"100%, Bones," he told her.

"Then why are you letting your fears prevent me from showing you that very same kind of love and devotion?" she asked. "Why are you so certain that the trust I have in you, and the love I feel for you, are not enough, combined with your very commendable coping mechanisms, to give you the tools you need to keep your addition at bay?"

"Huh?" he asked, understanding some of what she was getting at, but not all of it.

"I may not believe in God, and I don't have any real feelings towards religion in general, but that doesn't mean I don't have the same genuine desire to show my love and devotion that a good Christian does," she explained. "All the things you mentioned about how you deal with your urges are tools that you have, and good ones. Wouldn't adding something from me, a tangible gift, give you even more tools, since with this gift you would have someone who knows you, and your past, trusting you with something that most people have a difficult time even imagining? Specifically a large sum of money at their disposal with no worries about lack of funds? Trust like that is earned, Booth, and it is a gift. I believe that with this gift, we _**both**_ have the tools to keep your addictions from consuming you."

Booth spent close to ten minutes silently processing what she was saying. It was a powerful argument, and her emphasis on tools, and _**both**_ of them having them to help him deal with the gambling addiction made him silently thank God that for the first time in his life, with the exception of Hank, he had an adult that had so much faith in him, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to make him happy. She was showing him that despite her non-belief, she had as much of a faith in a true partnership that marriage was supposed to be as he did. It was humbling, and it had a definite grounding effect for him that his prayers, confessions, and his Faith gave him, too. The fate he had mentioned when he first met her had come full circle, and he was seeing the truth of his gut feeling from when he first saw her in that lecture hall.

"Can we do something?" he asked finally. At her nod and questioning look he continued. "You mentioned some benign controls on the financial side of things. I want to do that. Call it one more tool in our toolbox."

She smiled at his use of the word _**our**_. It showed her that he understood. "Then you'll let me buy the house for us?" she asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I may have some reservations, but you're right. How can I deny you the very thing I allow myself to show you every day, and which you allow me to show you?"

"I'll have my accountant and attorneys draw up the papers, and also arrange the purchase of the home," she told him. She stood up. Looking down at him she smiled. "But that can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I think we should get back to the apartment. I want to show my husband how much I love him in a more _**physical**_ way."

Boot didn't have to be asked twice. He jumped up and they both left quickly, though Booth was looking forward to being able to christen all the rooms in the mansion they were going to be buying and living in. He knew he would have issues at times that would come back to his feelings from his gambling past, but Bones was right. They had the tools to deal with it. He also knew that she had inadvertently made a very important point, one which FDR had made in 1933. "_The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself_."

_A/N: This one still hasn't written as well as I had hoped, but I must thank Nyre The Black Rose for the suggestions she had that made this concluding chapter work as well as it has. I hope that you all enjoyed this one. Gregg._

_A/N2: The FDR quote is from his Inaugural Address delivered on March 4, 1933._

_A/N3: The Prayer of Serenity, or Serenity Prayer is:_

_Short Form:_

_God, grant me the serenity __To accept the things I cannot change; __Courage to change the things I can; __And wisdom to know the difference._

_Long Form:_

_God, grant us the... __Serenity to accept things we cannot change, __Courage to change the things we can, and the __Wisdom to know the difference __Patience for the things that take time __Appreciation for all that we have, and __Tolerance for those with different struggles __Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, the __Ability to feel your love for us and our love for each other and the __Strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless._


End file.
